The coalition for Governance, Integrity, Accountability and Transparency (Giat) has given Pakatan Harapan lawmakers two weeks to declare their full assets, and not just their incomes.

Failing which, the NGO said, it will "name and shame" the ministers and MPs who fail to do so.

At a press conference today, Giat spokesperson Cynthia Gabriel (above) said the income details of Harapan ministers and lawmakers that have been uploaded online "was nowhere close to what was being promised by Harapan" before the general election.

"Asset declaration means you have to declare all your assets, including your salary, bank accounts, shares, properties, etc., including what you have overseas," she said.

Gabriel further pointed out that the MACC's My Declaration portal was still missing the income information of 10 ministers and 34 MPs.

"This is quite clearly in disrespect (of the manifesto), and (reflects) the kind of 'doesn't -matter' attitude among the MPs and those who hold public office," she said.

The NGO also warned that it would reveal the names ministers and MPs whose incomes have not been listed on the MACC portal to date. 

"Besides Harapan MPs, we also urge other MPs including those from BN, GPS and independents to declare their assets. [...] if not, we will name and shame them," she said.

 

Item 14 of Harapan's election manifesto states that "all members of the Dewan Rakyat, Dewan Negara, and government officials with Jusa C ranking and above will be obliged to make a declaration of assets and income."

The MACC had originally planned to publish the asset declaration papers on Oct 1, but the date was later pushed back to Oct 15 and Nov 1.

Harapan drew flak for requiring cabinet members and MPs to declare only monthly incomes and not assets.

MACC chief commissioner Shukri Abdull was quoted by The Star as saying last Friday that the graft-buster “was waiting for the final say from the cabinet to publish the assets of the ministers”.

Gabriel said this “passing the buck” from one government agency to another only portrayed the Harapan government's lack of political will and was thus unacceptable.

She called for the government to formulate an Asset Declaration Act, to compel specified categories of persons to make periodic declarations of their assets and liabilities both in and out of the country.

The government could refer to Public Asset Declaration Framework (PADF) jointly drafted by Giat and the Malaysian Bar last year in drafting the new law, said Gabriel.

Safety not an excuse

Giat, a loose coalition of civil society organisations includes rights group C4, among others

Also present today C4 legal research officer Fadiah Nadwa Fikri, Transparency International Malaysia secretary-general Muhammad Mohan, TI manager Chak Tze Chin and MyPJ chairperson Jeffrey Phang.

Asked if it was tenable for politicians to argue that a comprehensive asset declaration would pose a safety risk to them and their families, Gabriel said this was only a perceived fear.

"When you are dealing with billions in public funds, there is no issue of privacy. You need to show that you actually do not misappropriate public funds," she said.

Phang said that declaring assets to the public was something politicians should expect and they should not use safety as an excuse.

"We can see many tycoons in Malaysia and we know they are very rich but they declare the shares they own. It will be ridiculous for them to say they were not going to do it (for safety reasons).

"So we hope the politicians will not raise this excuse," he said.

Fadiah, meanwhile, pointed out that asset declarations were also practised in other established democracies including Indonesia, Taiwan, Australia and Hong Kong.